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DokiDokiTsuna
Feb '21
1

Besides the commonly known three-act one. Has anyone ever tried to analyze and condense other formats of storytelling the same way?

As much as I love analyzing things, I don't really read enough to answer this one. 9u9; And since I write so much action-adventure fare, a lot of my stories can easily fit into the three-act structure from an outsider's point of view.

I don't write them with that in mind, though. ;]

From a planning standpoint, my stories have a very basic Make Problem->Solve Problem structure. I come up with issues that the characters can face, and weave them in as they become relevant. The smaller issues closer to the character in question usually come first (like the typical anime 'I'm late for school!' bit...it's actually a great way to get a story started; the trick is to make the 'mundane introductory problem' character-specific and interesting).

As the story goes on, I introduce more problems, and the characters sort of pick which ones they gravitate towards. Meanwhile, I weave bits and pieces of the 'main problem' into the story in the background.

Eventually, the Climax comes: the main problem finally becomes too big to ignore, or something dramatic happens that makes the characters realize What's Really Going On(TM).

After that is what I like to call the Scramble~. The characters must quickly figure out how they can solve this problem with the resources they have available, or whether or not they need outside help. I am usually figuring it out right along with them at that point. XD

Then come the Loose Ends: lingering problems that weren't solved before, and are now made worse by the main problem. This is the most dramatic part of the story, if I'm gonna kill MCs this is usually when it happens. ^^

After the Loose Ends have wreaked all the havoc they can, the protagonist (often alone and traumatized by now) is left to carry out the Resolution: kill big problem with bigger sword. More or less. :9

That's pretty much it. In 3-act terms, it'd be like a story with a reeeeeeeaaaaally long Act 1..although I still wouldn't ideally use that method to deconstruct them. From what I've seen, 3-act assumes intent with the motions of the story: earlier events 'preparing' the reader or characters for later ones.
It doesn't really focus on 'f*cking around in the sandbox' and discovering new things to think about, which is what most of my stories depend on. If the characters and reader aren't given that time to experience and understand the world where the story takes place, the later Scramble is either going to look like a Deus ex Machina or fail completely.

TL;DR, here is Doki's patented Problem Solver story structure:

Introduction->Minor Problems and Exploration->Main Problem->Scramble->Loose Ends->Resolution

I'd love to hear about your own story structures, or the many potential research-supported ones that I've never heard of.

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HippieGhost
Feb '21

I call this the ADHD format.

Introduce characters, take some time developing them with a looming problem in the background, let the characters get constantly sidetracked in both conversation and in actions, the problem appears and takes everyone by surprise, "Wing it", Resolution.

my characters spend a lot of time screwing around, and tend to go down a lot of rabbit holes :sweat_smile:

jcmraz
Feb '21

There are lots but it kind of depends on what you mean by story structure. My comic is a 3 act structure because I think it's a pretty great general guide for any story. Some longer series are a series of 3 act structures. So each book has a 3 act structure and maybe the series as a whole has a 3 act structure or something similar as well. Then there are structures like hero's journey or 7 point structure. Really if you just google story structures you'll find a mountain of data lol

elyss
Feb '21

Anatomy of a Story is my favorite, hands down. It's a book that breaks down how to make a solid story in as few as 7 and as many as 22 steps. It helped me trim fat and make much more engaging stories.

UrMom
Feb '21
1

I don't study them, but I do know of 3,4,5 and 9 act structures. I also found this link to other structure types?3 I don't know if it's correct, although it does make for an interesting read.

I don't know details on the structures I've heard of, but I'll drop some links of you're interested.

4-act structure7

5-act structure5

9-act structure6

There are also breakdowns of the 3-act structure I guess? Like you can break it down into 6-7 parts or something, it's really complicated, and I honestly took a raincheck on expanding my brain at the time of stumbling across it.

I was told once that my comic was loosely like a 5-act structure.

Intro > Rising Conflict > Important Event > Rising Conflict > Main Climax > Important Event > Declining Conflict (3 chapters worth) > Denouement

jamontoast98
Feb '21

Manga typically uses Kishotenketsu - a 4-act structure

Introduction - introduce the main characters and setting
Anticipation - introduce a problem, and build up to the
Climax - the big, impactful event
Conclusion - show the outcome of the event and how it affected the characters

But this isn't used just for a chapter of a manga, it is used EVERYWHERE - for an entire arc or even something as small as a page. So in the first panel, the protaganist faces the villain. In the second panel, he goes for the attack. (it's typical to have the climax on the next page). On the next page, the villain dodges the attack. Then, as a conclusion, the villain will say "You're too slow, I used Flash Step to avoid it"

As for my method? Currently I create characters and think of significant events that will happen to them, and how it will change them. I have a basic story and ending, but I try to let my characters do what they want to do. There are a lot of fights (being a fighting game manga and everything) so I try to think about possible conflicts they may have, and what the fight means to them

nixxusnibelheim
Feb '21

I really like to blend John Truby's take on story structure and Blake Snyder's take. They are both relatively share similarities while Snyder focuses more on making things as clear and easy to digest as possible, Truby gives a more deep analysis of it so I like to blend these 2 structures into my writing which translates into 7+ "acts".

I recently added to my arsenal a lesser-known structure called the Turn & Burn which is again relatively similar to any structure out there but kinda helps to put things in perspective when you are in doubt and lost.

claiborneart
Feb '21

I've been thinking a lot about story structure lately - mostly cause my usual method of "jump in and wing it!" sometimes works well, and mostly is the writing equivalent of shooting myself in the foot at the starting line. Here's some methods I've either used myself, or have heard of and would like to try:

  • The 3-Act structure is classic for a reason, but fits a movie better than most lengths of novels/comics. I have been writing a novel on the side with a more-filled out 27-Act Structure2 version, that has been helping me so far.

  • The Sitcom Code2 is a pretty rad way to organize an episodic story; made for 22-minute TV episodes with standard commercial breaks, it divides each minute of an average episode into how long to spend on each bit.
    I heard of one comic creator translating this method into 22-pages chapters, with each comic page equaling one minute of airtime - maybe with webnovels on Tapas it would be better to treat each 'commercial break' point as where to cut up chapter updates.

  • I have one story I'm posting now with a personal way I like to thing of as 'gathering the threads' - where I look at all the cool plot threads/characters/world-building snippets I introduced earlier and haven't done much with yet, then figure out if there's a good way to 'weave' them back into my main plot arc.
    I like doing this when I've already got a story that I've started weaving, I know what the main thread is, but I have to figure out what to add in the flesh it out.

  • A similar (and better organized) way to 'gather threads' would be a Nested Story or Story Sandwich - where each plot arc has to be resolved in nested order from when they were introduced. If your first plot hook is A: revenge quest, it needs to be resolved last, after the B plot: romantic subplot, and both need to be resolved well after the F plot filler episode where the Clown King needs their Maguffin Pie. I can't find a link to wherever I heard about this, so here's a doodleChart about how nested story arcs might end up looking:

    nestedStory.jpg940x416 138 KB

    ^In this example the C-plot resolution would probably be the midpoint of the story, while the B and A resolutions would be the climax. I've wanted to try this method for an ensemble cast story ever since I first heard of it, but I bet it'd work for a lot of other types of casts as well.